Apparatus for the fluid treatment of textile webs of varying widths



Dec. 1962 DEYBER 3,066,517

APPARATUS FOR THE FLUID TREATMENT OF TEXTILE WEBS 0F VARYING WIDTHS 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV. 20, 1959 POE Dec. 4, 1962 DEYBER 3,066,517

APPARATUS FOR THE FLUID TREATMENT OF TEXTILE WEBS 0F VARYING WIDTHS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 20, 1959 nitol States te 3,065,517 APPARATUSFOR THE FLUSH) F TEXTKLE WEES (HF ENG WIDTHEE Louis Deyber, Hochstatt,France, assignor to ociete Aisacienn-e de tConstrnctions Mecaniques,Muihouse,

Han't-Rhin, France, a company of France Fiied Nov. 21?, 19599, Ser. No.854,388 Claims priority, appiication France Nov. 26, 1958 4- i'llaims.((1 685) The invention relates to continuous fluid treatment or perviousstrip materials such as fabrics, principally for bleaching, dyeing, andfor fixing dyes by steaming.

As concerns, for instance, continuous steaming for fixing dyes infabrics, the conventional installations are constituted by an enclosurefed with steam in which the fabric to be treated travels along a pathhaving a configuration such that each portion of the fabric stays withinthe enclosure as long as possible.

It is desirable that the fabric first travels in a zone of the enclosurecontaining saturated or live steam for the initiation of the chemicalreaction and, then, that it travels in the rest of the enclosure wherethe reaction already initiated is being completed. In someinstallations, the travel of the fabric takes place on upper and lowerrolls, the fabric passing in vertically undulated course alternatelyaround an upper roll and around a lower roll. The various layers ofsteam inside the enclosure do not have all the same features, but sincethe fabric uninterruptedly and rapidly travels throughout all theselayers, it is, however, subjected to an average treatment substantiallyhomogeneous. Nevertheless, it is during the first seconds when thefabric comes into contact with the steam, that the major portion of thechemical reaction for fixing the dye in the fibres of the fabric takesplace. Now, during these first few seconds, the saturated steam impingesagainst one side of the fabric, or against both sides thereof, accordingto the type of considered installation, but it does not impregnate thefabric immediately to the core, which is a drawback.

Furthermore, in other installations, the travel of the fabric within theenclosure consists in a horizontal translation of vertically suspendedfolds, principally for dellcate fabrics and in the case when only theback of the fabric is allowed to come into engagement with supports. Insuch installations, the dyes run the risk of not becoming fixed undersimilar conditions in the upper portions and in the lower portions ofthe folds, by reason of differences in the temperature of the steambetween the higher portions and the lower portions of the enclosure.

Attempts for removing this drawback have been made by stirring the steamwithin the enclosure, for instance by means of blowers, and also byproviding an excess of steam but these are expensive makeshiftsaltogether.

The aim of the invention is to ensure an impregnation of the fabric tothe core, at the moment of the very first contact of the fabric and thesaturated steam.

The invention has also for its aim, to provide apparatus that willensure a rapid impregnation to the core of fabrics and other perviousstrip materials of varying widths, for treatments other than steamingand, for instance, for bleaching or dyeing.

For this purpose, the invention provides means for making the materialto be treated travel over a pervious support and means for passing fluidthrough the material to be treated and through the support includingmeans for directing the fluid against one side of the supportingmaterial and means for applying suction to the opposite side thereof,whereby the material is treated to the core by the fluid.

Accordingly, the invention has for an object to provide an apparatus fortreating textile fabric webs which includes means defining an enclosurecontaining the treatment fluid, a rotary drum within the enclosure, thecylindrical wall of which drum is perforated or of other constructionsuch as mesh type construction or otherwise provided with openingstherethrough so that the treatment fluid can pass from the exerio-r intothe interior of the drum, means for rotating the drum, im perviouspartitions arranged inside the drum in engagement with both generatricesof the latter which determine the flexing arc of the web of materialaround the drum, said partitions and the portion. of the cylindricalwall of the drum which extends along said are defining a vacuum chamber,and means for ensuring a vacuum in said chamber, whereby the drum servesboth as a driving member and as a support for the material beingtreated.

In a machine specially designed for steaming fabrics, the enclosurecontains, furthermore, means for directing the saturated steam againstthe portion of the fabric which is in on the drum, and, for effectingthe complementary step, means for making the fabric travel in the restof the enclosure, and means for feeding said enclosure with steam.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description together with the accompanying drawings,submitted for purpose of illustration only and not intended to definethe scope of the invention, reference being had, for that purpose, tothe subjoined claims.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically shows, in vertical section, an installation forsteaming fabrics according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of a drum for driving and supporting thefabric, which may be used in the installation of FIG. 1, said sectionsbeing made along the line 2-2 of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 3 is a corresponding axial section made along the line 3-3 of FIG.2.

in the steaming installation illustrated in FIG. 1, the lower portion ofa chamber 15 contains water fed by a pipe 14 and is provided with meansadapted to boil the water, for instance a coil pipe 16 immersed in thewater and containing pressure fed-steam. One of the vertical walls ofthe chamber 15 is provided with means which make it possible to projectsteam preferably over the full height of this wall. In the exampleshown, these means are constituted by vertical pipes 17 fed with live orsaturated steam and having perforations oriented toward the inside ofthe chamber.

The lower portion of the chamber and the neighbourhood of the aforesaidvertical wall constitute, together, a first zone adapted for carryingout the initiation step of the treatment for impregnating the fabricwith saturated steam.

The vertical wall of the chamber 15, remote from that which is providedwith the steam pipes 17 has, at its lower portion, an opening 23 throughwhich the fabric enters and leaves the chamber.

The fabric to be treated is, for instance, folded in an accordion-likemanner on a carriage 2s, passes over de fiection rolls 27, through atension regulating device 28, and then over a guiding roll 29 beforeentering the chamber by the action of a takeup drum 31 arranged in theupper portion of the first zone of treatment. A deflection roll 32 isarranged between both portions of the first zone of treatment. Thetake-up drum 31 is of a special type described hereinunder and servesalso as a. support for treating the fabric to the core. The second zoneadapted for carrying out the complementary step of the treatment isconstituted by the rest of the chamber; it encloses a device whichenables the fabric to be suspended in successive folds forming avertically undulated course and which may be of any suitableconventional type. In the embodiment represented, this device comprisesa chain of rolls 21 which passes on four drums 22 and which isintermittently fed under the action of a cam 40 driven by a motor 2! insuch a manner that the rolls keep immovable during the formation of eachfold of fabric and move only at the moment when a new fold is initiated.The fabric, therefore, is supported by the rolls during its travel inthe upper horizontal portion of its path in the machine.

When the fabric leaves the take-up drum 31, it is shaped into folds bythe sinking movement of a rod 41 supported at each end thereof by alever 42 pivoted on a horizontal shaft 44 and subjected to the action ofa cam 43. The motion of this cam is synchronised with that of the cam 40in such a manner that, as soon as the chain of rolls has moved adistance equal to the width of a fold, the rod 41 drops onto the fabricand initiates the formation of a new fold.

Upon completion of the treatment in the second zone, the fabric passesover two deflection rolls 33, 34, leaves the chambers through theopening 23, passes over idle rolls 35, 36, over a roll 37, and then,between the rolls 38 of a folding device of any suitable conventionaltype. The treated fabric accumulates in accordion-like formation on acarriage 3?.

The take-up drum 31 is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3; its cylindricalwall 1112 is air-pervious and closed by two air-tight endwalls 103removably mounted. The cylindrical wall 1192 of the drum is constituted,for instance, by a foraminated metal sheet or a wire mesh. The endwalls1% of the drum are journalled on a stationary tubular axle 1114- mountedon two supports 1%. Rotation of the drum is ensured by means such as,for instance, a chain drive 1116 with a chain wheel 107 secured to oneof the endwalls of the drum.

Mounted on the stationary axle, are two baffie plates 111 each in theshape of a circular sector having a radius substantially equal to thatof the inner cylindrical surface of the drum and the arc of which has alength substantially equal to that of the flexing arc of the fabric overthe drum. The edges of these baflle plates are lined with a seal strip112 made of a flexible and resilient material, for instance rubber,adapted to bear in frictional engagement against the drum.

The axle 104 also carries two radial partitions 113 which extendsubstantially to both generatrices of the drum along which reaches thefabric in contact with the drum and moves away from it, that is to say,the generatrices which define the flexing arc of the fabric around thedrum. The edges of the partition 113 near said generatrices are alsolined with a sealing strip 114.

The baflle plates 111 and radial partitions 113 thus define, inside thedrum, a stationary chamber permanently located in the bottom of the loopof fabric flexing around the drum. The portion of the tubular axle 1%adjacent this chamber has perforations 115 while a pipe 11 6 enables theinterior of this axle and, therefore, the aforesaid chamber, tocommunicate with any suitable vacuumpump, so that the pressure withinthe chamber be lower than the atmospheric pressure.

Under these conditions, the fabric is heavily applied by the atmosphericpressure against the only portion of the cylindrical surface of the drumwhich corresponds to the flexing arc of the fabric around said drum. Therotational movement of the drum, therefore, ensures an etficient feed ofthe fabric while the steam sucked into the drum passes principallythroughout the fabric which it treats to the core.

Furthermore, in the embodiment represented, the baffle plates 111 areadjustable in axial direction on the axle 164; which carries them.

It is, thus, possible to move them toward and away from each other bymeans of a rotary control spindle 117 coaxially mounted within the axle104 and provided with a handwheel 118. The spindle 117 has two portions121, 122 provided with screw-threads of opposite pitch and respectivelyin engagement with two nuts 123, 124 secured to the baflles 111. Byrotating the handwheel 113 in one direction the bafl'ies are movednearer each other and the effective width of the drum is, therefore,reduced, whereas by rotating the handwheel in the opposite direction,the baffles are moved away from each other and the effective width ofthe drum is increased. The dimensions and therefore the volume of thevacuum chamber, may be varied so as to be adapted to the width of thestrip material to be treated.

The radial edges of the baffles are made to slide against the partition113, so that the latter may stay in place and not have to be replaced byothers of different lengths when it is necessary to modify the effectivewidth of the drum.

The perforations of the central axle are located near the middle portionof the latter so as to stay within the vacuum chamber, even when thelatter is made very short in axial direction. The baffles 111, asrepresented, may also be provided with part baflies or collars 125 inengagement with the axle and arranged in such a manner as to cover theouter perforations as the baffies are brought nearer the middle of theaxle.

A brush, for instance a rotary brush 126 in engagement with the outercylindrical surface of the drum, between the two runs of the fabric,maintains the drum under clean condition and principally eliminatesplushy material which is likely to reduce the permeability of the drumand, therefore, be detrimental to the suctional eifect which producesthe driving force for the fabric.

Briefly, in the chamber 15 (FIG. 1), the fabric is first under stretchedcondition in contact with the saturated steam in the first zone 16, 17and is impregnated to the core on the drum 31; then, the treatment iscarried on and completed on the fabric in suspended folds in the secondzone of treatment, under the action of the steam coming from the firstZone.

By suitably adjusting the 'value of vacuum in the rotary drum, it ispossible to obtain any desired feature for the initiating step oftreatment.

In a simplified embodiment, the fabric does not travel flat over thelower boiling water stretch, and is not subjected to the action of;saturated steam jets prior to passing on the rotary drum 31, so that theinitiating step of treatment takes place only on the rotary drum.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many widelydifferent embodiments of this invention could be made without departingfrom the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter containedin the above description, or shown in the accompanying drawings, shallbe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for treating textile fabric webs with a fluid treatingagent comprising a web supporting drum over which the web to be treatedis passed, said drum having axially spaced end walls and a cylindricalwall, said cylindrical wall having openings therein adapted to permitthe, passage of a treating fluid from the exterior of the drum into theinterior thereof, a stationary tubular axle, means mounting said drum onsaid axle for rotational movement thereabout, fixed partition means onthe interior of the drum, supported by said axle and dividing theinterior of said drum into two spaces of sector shaped cross-section,said axle having openings therein providing communication between theinterior of the axle, and one interior space within the drum on one sideof said partition means, conduit means communicating with the interiorof the axle and through which a vacuum condition can be establishedwithin the drum, two baffle members each in the shape of a sector of acylinder and having radial edges in sliding engagement with thepartition means on said one side thereof, means mounting said bafflemembers for axial movement relative to said axle in directions towardsand away from one another and means operably connected to said bafflemembers for so moving said bafile members so as to adjust the distancebetween the same to a distance equal to the Width of a web to be treatedand to simultaneously vary the volume of the space in which the vacuumcondition exists.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which the means operably connectedto said bafile members to move the same includes a control screw mountedco-axially within said axle and having two axially spaced screw threadedportions of opposite pitch and nut means secured to the respectivebaffle members and respectively in threaded engagernent with said twoscrew threaded portions, so that responsive to turning of said controlscrew said baffle members are simultaneously moved towards or away fromone another.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 in which said axle and drum are eachdisposed in a horizontal relationship and a cleaning brush in engagementwith the outer surface of the drum at a position beneath said axle andthus at a location outside the arc around which a web to be treatedflexes around the drum.

4. In apparatus for treating textile fabric webs, a chamber adapted tocontain a fluid treatment agent, a stationary hollow shaft within saidchamber, a web supporting drum including a cylindrical wall and twoaxially spaced end walls mounted for rotation on said shaft, saidcylindrical Wall being provided with a plurality of axially andcircumferentially spaced perforations, a fixed partition means supportedby said shaft to divide the interior of said drum into two substantiallyhalf-cylindrical spaces, a pair of substantially sector-shaped axiallymovable: wall members disposed in one of said half-cylindrical spaces inparallel relationship with said two end Walls to define with saidcylindrical wall and said partition means a centrally locatedsubstantially half-cylindrical suction chamber of variable volume, meanspositioned in said shaft for reciprocating said wall memberssimultaneously in two opposite axial directions, means connected to saidshaft to create therein a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, andmeans for establishing a communication between the interior of saidshaft and said suction chamber in all positions of said movable wallmembers relative to said stationary shaft.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS246,547 Patterson Aug. 30, 1881 488,787 Clay Dec. 27, 1892 2,447,993Viera Aug. 24, 1948 2,453,332 Millhiser Nov. 9, 1948 2,494,807 HaeberlinJan. 17, 1950 2,543,098 Dulken Feb. 27, 1951 2,737,042 Mathewson Mar. 6,1956 2,953,952 Alexander Sept. 27, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 601,858 GermanyAug. 25, 1934

